Sage Monarch

The God Tombstone Palms were an incredibly powerful energy art, being a signature skill from the Great Necropolis itself. Anyone hit by it would have their meridians shattered, and would be crushed into a pulp. It was a truly consummate ability, and although some of the local savages could use it, they couldn't imbue it with the godpower of the necropolis.

As such, only the Inheritors could unlock its full potential.

Because Yang Qi had the ability to study the godpower seeds, and could also channel some of the godpower of the necropolis, he was able to use the God Tombstone Palms to some degree. However, his mastery wasn't even close to what he could do with the Sovereign Lord's Holy and Far-Reaching Consummate Omnicurse or the True-Devil Unspoiled-by-Myriad-Kalpas-and-Tribulations Body. So for now, he didn't use it.

However, he knew enough to tell that this Flower-Seizing Marauder was very skilled in its use. Every palm strike he unleashed came with devastating force and pressure, causing mountains to fall from above, or the earth to erupt from below. Considering how superior his version was to Zi Qiong's, Yang Qi was convinced that he must have at least three godpower seeds.

The Flower-Seizing Marauder's immense strength and power was fully on display.

That said, Star Swordlife's technique provided the perfect defense, and he wielded it with incredible skill. Thanks to the life force within its operation, his opponent was unable to land any meaningful blows.

As they fought back and forth, it was obvious that the Flower-Seizing Marauder had a superior cultivation base. Unfortunately for him, Star Swordlife's sword technique had reached an impossibly terrifying level.

A host of junior sect leaders had gathered near Yang Qi, and all of them looked quite angry. In fact, one of them turned to him and said, "The Flower-Seizing Marauder is a villain that everyone has the right to punish. Sir, why don't you step in and kill him?"

"He kidnapped my wife and drained her yin vitality until she died. It was horrific! There is no greater evil in heaven and earth than this man. Junior Sectlord, can you please help me get revenge? If you do, then I, Heng Chiyu, will forever be in your debt!"

"Yeah, Junior Sectlord. There are people in all of our sects who have been killed by the Flower-Seizing Marauder."

"Kill him! Please, Junior Sectlord, join forces with that young hero, and kill him!"

"Cut him down!"

"Get revenge for us!"

"We'll follow you no matter what, Junior Sectlord Will Manifestation!"

Everyone present knew how incredible Yang Qi's cultivation base was, making him something of a celebrity. And now they were asking him to take out the Flower-Seizing Marauder.

Almost immediately, Yang Qi realized that if he followed through with their requests, it would definitely boost his reputation by a lot.

Although the Flower-Seizing Marauder was so strong that Yang Qi wasn't completely confident in being able to defeat him, he was willing to try.

"You think you can kill me?" the Flower-Seizing Marauder growled. Having seized the upper hand in the fighting, he looked over at the group near Yang Qi and laughed coldly. "Do you really believe that scum like you can handle me? I ravaged your women to death, and it was great! I loved the looks of despair in their eyes as they died, and only wish that you could have been there to watch them being raped to death. And my energy arts are only getting stronger and stronger. In the end, all of you can only wallow in despair!"

RIP!

All of a sudden, he sent Star Swordlife staggering backward. Then he flicked his finger, sending out a speck of black light toward the gathered onlookers that rapidly expanded into a huge millstone, on the surface of which was engraved an elegy of death. It was another energy art from the Great Necropolis.

"Stone Emperor's Tomb Inscription!"

Unexpectedly, he was trying to kill all of the onlookers, to ensure that there were no witnesses left behind. The wickedness and evil of this man would make anyone bristle with anger!

However, Yang Qi merely snorted coldly and unleashed a fist strike imbued with a spirit that could conquer mountains and rivers. It slammed into the Stone Emperor's Tomb Inscription, shattering it instantly! Then Yang Qi stepped out onto the square, waving his palm in an arc and sending a deadly attack right toward the Flower-Seizing Marauder.

The Flower-Seizing Marauder quickly launched another God Tombstone Palm, thinking that he would kill Yang Qi in one shot. However, when their two palms collided, he shivered and his arm went numb.

'How could this kid be so fierce?' he thought.

Meanwhile, Star Swordlife retracted his sword light and ceased fighting. Before, the onlookers had been hoping that he and Yang Qi would work together to rid the world of the Flower-Seizing Marauder. Unexpectedly, though, he had decided to step to the sidelines.

People immediately began to cry out to him. "Young Hero, quickly join forces with Junior Sectlord Will Manifestation to kill this guy! He's profoundly evil, to the point where everyone wants to see him dead. Only when he ceases to exist can vengeance be had!"

"Young Hero with the sword, hurry up and keep fighting. You can't stop now!"

"Ai... if the Flower-Seizing Marauder doesn't die today, it's impossible to say how many young men he'll kill in the future, or how many maidens he'll murder."

The Flower-Seizing Marauder was visibly surprised to see Star Swordlife retreating from battle. Looking over at Yang Qi, he said, "So you're the junior sectlord from the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect? You became pretty famous recently, but are you really willing to pick a fight with me? Could it be that you want to boost your reputation by killing me? If so, you've made a mistake. Do you know how many people have tried to kill me? In the end, I cut them all down. It seems to me the young women of the Will Manifestation Heaven Sect should be careful going forward. Sooner or later, I'll head over to your sect and rape them all to death!"

"So, it's you, Yang Qi," Star Swordlife said coolly. "Are you planning to kill this man?"

"You're right, I am, Star Swordlife. Even you can see how evil he is. He deserves to die, and if he doesn't, countless more people will be hurt. Will you join me?"

"I won't join you, especially not to kill someone. I only save people. Furthermore, plenty of people have died at your hands, Yang Qi. You have no right to condemn the Flower-Seizing Marauder."

The Flower-Seizing Marauder immediately burst out laughing. "Not bad. Not bad at all. How about instead, you two fight and I can be the referee?"

Glaring at Star Swordlife, Yang Qi said, "You talk about saving people? Look at all the people standing on the sidelines. The Flower-Seizing Marauder very nearly killed them all with his God Tombstone Palms. Why didn't you save them?"

"I would have, except his cultivation base is too fierce," Star Swordlife replied coolly. "I wasn't able to save them, but I wanted to."

"Alright, cut the crap," Yang Qi growled. "I'm going to kill this guy, Star Swordlife. If you don't want to help, fine. Just step back and don't get in my way."

"Ai..." Star Swordlife sighed. "Why are you always going around trying to kill people, Yang Qi? As long as I'm here, you're not going to be killing anybody. I won't allow it."

When the onlookers heard his words, many of them shouted in anger and began vehemently cursing Star Swordlife.

"What kind of a rat bastard are you?! You're helping this monster? He's killed innumerable helpless victims, and raped too many women to count. He deserves the death penalty ten thousand times over! Why the hell aren't you going to help Junior Sectlord Will Manifestation rid the world of him? Just what are you planning to do instead?"

"This guy was just ambushed by the Flower-Seizing Marauder? Why would he stop the junior sectlord from killing him? Is he insane or something?"

"Get out of way! Let the junior sectlord kill the Flower-Seizing Marauder!"

Star Swordlife seemed completely unruffled by all the yelling and cursing. "The Flower-Seizing Marauder is a killer, and Yang Qi is a killer too. As far as I'm concerned, there's no difference between them. I don't discriminate amongst the people I save."

"Well said, boy!" The Flower-Seizing Marauder burst out into sinister laughter. He had sinister, triangular eyes, a high-bridged nose, and viciously angular lips. He actually looked heartless and unethical, like a cold-blooded, ruthless villain. "It's good to see that you have principles. How about this: I promise never to kill another person again. Unfortunately, this junior sectlord is obviously not going to make a similar promise. Why don't the two of us work together to take him down? Make sure he doesn't kill anyone else, ever again?"

"Did you hear that, Yang Qi?" Star Swordlife said. "The Flower-Seizing Marauder just promised me that he'd never kill again. What about you?"

Now it was Yang Qi's turn to burst out laughing. "Are you a complete moron, Star Swordlife? You actually believe him? I don't remember you being such an idiot before. Could it be that the higher your cultivation base gets, the worse your brain works?"

"I have no way to know whether or not you'll keep killing people," Star Swordlife replied. "But at least he's willing to make the promise. So what do you think? If you express the same sentiment and promise not to kill anyone in the future, then I won't make things difficult for you. What do you say?"

Yang Qi's eyes flashed. Star Swordlife was really acting like a blockhead, and was clearly not willing to budge in his views. Yang Qi sighed. "This guy is a despicable and shameless liar, Star Swordlife. He's obviously going to go back on his word. I'm telling you, if he doesn't die right here and now, he's only going to bring more calamity to the dao of immortals."

"Did you hear that, Star Swordlife?" the Flower-Seizing Marauder said. "He's being very stubborn. He'll definitely go on to kill more people in the future; he basically said it outright! I've already said that I won't, so what are you going to do?"

"I won't let him kill you," Star Swordlife said. "Don't worry."

When the onlookers heard this interchange, their heads nearly exploded from fury. How could any of them have guessed that something like this would happen? As of this point, they were actually angrier with Star Swordlife than they were with the Flower-Seizing Marauder. After all, it was because of his refusal to kill people that an utter monster was about to go free.

In fact, he was essentially helping the monster.

"In that case, there's no point in continuing this conversation," Yang Qi said. "I'm going to punish this villain. If you try to stop me, that means you're on his side. Listen up, Flower-Seizing Marauder. Whether you run or fight, I'm going to kill you today."

"Why haven't you stepped in, Star Swordlife?" the Flower-Seizing Marauder said. "I already promised never to kill another person again. Come on, help me deal with this guy!"